The K6 Wellness Revolution
Stressed Out? Let's Talk Adrenals & Health!
In this podcast episode, we delve into the topic of chronic stress and its impacts on your health, with a particular focus on cortisol and adrenal function. We explore how stress affects your digestion, immune health, and mental well-being, underlining the significance of your individual responses to stress. Our discussion encompasses your body's physiological stress response, the interplay between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and the consequences of chronic stress on your overall health.
Throughout the episode, we discover various strategies for managing stress, including the importance of sleep, exercise, genetics, nutrition, and meal planning. We also discuss the role of supplements, lifestyle modifications, and the necessity for professional guidance in tailoring stress management strategies to fit your needs. The episode concludes with practical advice on implementing dietary changes, incorporating adaptogenic herbs, and embracing self-care and gratitude as integral components of your stress coping mechanisms. Tune in as we unpack the complexities of chronic stress and equip you with actionable tools to foster your well-being.
Follow Us:
www.LinkedIn.com/company/k6-wellness
Podcast Directed and Produced by: www.hiredgunsagency.com
In this podcast episode, we delve into the topic of chronic stress and its impacts on your health, with a particular focus on cortisol and adrenal function. We explore how stress affects your digestion, immune health, and mental well-being, underlining the significance of your individual responses to stress. Our discussion encompasses your body's physiological stress response, the interplay between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, and the consequences of chronic stress on your overall health.
Throughout the episode, we discover various strategies for managing stress, including the importance of sleep, exercise, genetics, nutrition, and meal planning. We also discuss the role of supplements, lifestyle modifications, and the necessity for professional guidance in tailoring stress management strategies to fit your needs. The episode concludes with practical advice on implementing dietary changes, incorporating adaptogenic herbs, and embracing self-care and gratitude as integral components of your stress coping mechanisms. Tune in as we unpack the complexities of chronic stress and equip you with actionable tools to foster your well-being.
Follow Us:
www.LinkedIn.com/company/k6-wellness
Podcast Directed and Produced by: www.hiredgunsagency.com
Welcome to the K6 Wellness Revolution podcast. My name is Sharon and I'm the owner of K6 Wellness Center here in Dallas, texas. I'm going to be your host tonight and we are going to discuss all things health and wellness Today. Specifically, elena and I will be talking about stress and your adrenals and how this all affects your health. Here at K6 Wellness, we do acknowledge the importance of not just looking at the physical body for your health, but looking at every aspect of your life, and that includes the food you eat, your environment, your personal care products and, yes, the amount of stress that your body encounters every single day. So when we're looking at the mind, body and spirit, you'd be surprised to know how much stress has an impact on your overall health, and that's why we're going to take a deep dive today on how our bodies react to stress. So let's dive right in. Hey, hey, elena, hello.
Speaker 2:How are you? I'm stressed, just thinking about stress. Let's jump in.
Speaker 2:It's stressful thinking about all the information we need to talk about, yes, and how much stress people are carrying around with them all the time. I get stressed for my clients sitting across from me every day. It's like there's things we can do, there's, there's practices you can implement. Doesn't have to be so stressful, because life will always be stressful. I actually saw a funny quote that said you know, when people say life is stressful, then this person said hey, I want to ask compared to what, compared to what I don't know, I feel like death is probably less stressful. I mean probably, but you know, it's life or death. What's the alternative? So let's learn, become friends with the stress in our lives, right, or yeah?
Speaker 1:manage it better? Yeah, for sure, but okay, and that's I think this is. It's funny and we make light of it. But stress means a lot of different things to different people, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I think just to begin with we should break down what is stress, because we all think we know what it is. But we think of it as a physical thing, but it is also an emotional response and it's what our body does in a stressful situation to cope with it. So we don't just crumple up and die. Give our bodies the stamina to survive stressful situations and release that cortisol until it's safe to rest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. I mean, I start every day with a healthy dose of stress, power lifting, and I love it, but that is stress and I think, just like you know, school is stressful. I think relationships, right, can be can be stressful, and and I think that we can probably even classify stress into hey, there's positive stress, like exercise, building muscle right, we're having to stress our fibers and stress our bones and then there's negative stress, right, which could be toxic relationships or just hard relationships, or things that make us tired, even if they're good things.
Speaker 2:How about traffic, oh?
Speaker 1:yeah, I don't feel like we live in a triplex yeah, and I'm not sure that traffic is ever a positive.
Speaker 2:No, it's not a positive, but it's a stressor.
Speaker 1:It is. Yeah, I think that's a good point. But how we deal with stress is really based on our perception. Just like you and I have different ideas of what good exercise is, because our bodies need different things, and we've worked out together before and I was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:I just want to die, Because then I hear of your workouts. I'm like that would kill me.
Speaker 1:So it's finding what each of us can handle, be it our exercise or our environment what each of us can handle, be it our exercise or our environment, yeah, and even personalities and people, or whatever. Like graduate school ever goes. Oh, I don't know how you're doing it. I'm like, well, I love it, I don't hate it right now, I'm just glad it's almost over. But it's really, I think, more about a person's perception of the stress. Right, because it could be something for my benefit, but if I don't perceive it as leading to a good end or having a good outcome, it may as well be just a bad stress. It's really your perception, just like I think we tell people you need to walk every day Walking. When I hear that, I'm like, oh how relaxing, because when I go for a walk, I go for a stroll, right.
Speaker 2:But I go for a power walk. That's, that's how I relax. Is a power walk? Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:You don't know what a slow walk is. You've been shopping with Elena or walking around a mall in the dark at 4.30 in the morning, you don't know what fast is. Stressful Stress walk yeah, it can be very relaxing to somebody. Again, it's just your interpretation of it. But how you perceive it, how your brain perceives it, really gets the autonomic nervous system activated, right as far as our stress response and just to review autonomic nervous system, we've got sympathetic, parasympathetic. We'll look as sympathetic as our gas pedal and our parasympathetic is our brakes, so to speak. If we were a car. It's not that you need all of one and none of the other, it's using the right one at the right time.
Speaker 2:And you can't do both at the same time. I mean, think about driving your car. You can't have the gas pedal and the brakes at the same time. I know, when I was learning to drive I did that once and you realize, don't ever do that again. It kills the car. So same thing would happen to our bodies. We can't have both. So our bodies will pick in a situation if we're going to crash or if we're going to pedal to the metal and just keep going until we eventually run into something and crash.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and our sympathetic is known as our fight or flight or fright. Right, that's the bear chasing you through the woods. And then parasympathetic is often referred to as rest and digest, or feed and breed. I call it vacation mode, and we're supposed to spend 80% of our lives in parasympathetic, with only 20% of the time being totally stressed.
Speaker 2:And that's not the modern life. That's not true. I feel like everyone that I work with and even balancing it in my own life. There's no way there's an 80-20 balance there. There's no way.
Speaker 1:No, and really I think modern advancements in technology have not set us up to adhere to that it takes.
Speaker 1:I know, even just to go on vacation and unplug, it takes me a whole week just to come down and then you have to go and then I can settle into, yeah, pressing and relaxing, but but we do need that mix and you want to have enough resources hormonally to be able to form the proper response. So, yeah, if you do get put in a situation where the bear is chasing you through the woods, you want to know that you can run, that your body is going to help you.
Speaker 2:So well, and and thinking about what's happening to our body in a stressful situation, be it an acute trauma or chronic stress, I think it's important to realize what kind of health conditions are affected or impacted by that. I think everyone just thinks of hearts and strokes, with stress that is never checked or brought down. But you know, we see all kinds of stuff like digestive issues and skin problems, weight issues, depression, anxiety, all these things that tie into a chronic stressful environment, I feel like. And sleep I think sleep is one of the biggest ones. Well then, that's what's impacted by stress so you're stressed because you aren't sleeping, and you aren't sleeping because you're stressed, so somewhere you have to get in there and interrupt that vicious cycle. Or that leads to even more things, you know greater skin issues, digestive issues, heart issues, and it's not just the heart we have to worry about.
Speaker 1:No, it's whole body. And I think if you look at our stress hormone, cortisol, which is produced by your adrenals, I mean cortisol does a lot of different things and some of it's good, but overall, when you have too much cortisol over a long period of time, but overall, when you have too much cortisol over a long period of time, you're going to put on weight, and most Americans aren't looking to put on weight. So it is important to be able to interrupt the system, like you say, I think, especially as it relates to sleep, because that's our body's rest and repair time. That's when all the magic has to happen.
Speaker 2:And magic hours of the night, 10 to 2.
Speaker 1:Yep, those are the hours we never want to cheat ourselves out of the most important hours of sleep. But for our listeners out there, what time do you go to bed? Because if you're not going to bed until midnight, we are losing out on half of the most important four hours of sleep and I think that if we can just shift, it's hard to think about. Hey, if you're going to cheat yourself, don't do it in that window or get up early, go to bed early and get up early. But nobody does that and I think it's because of light electricity, yeah, but the sleep is so important.
Speaker 2:You can get away with a lot if you're sleeping. I mean, looking at you and your experience through graduate school, what do you always say? Like you're a rock star at sleep and your sleep routine you do not mess with my sleep Right. I'm here to attest to that, because to see what you've been able to work through and handle it's amazing. It's impressive, but I know your sleep is never negotiated.
Speaker 1:It's not Much to my family's chagrin. Yeah, I do tend to turn to a pumpkin, but my eyes pop open at anywhere from 4.30 to 5 in the morning, and that's when I feel my best.
Speaker 1:So that's when I get up and I work out and I'm ready to go. So yeah, and for me works, but really according to circadian rhythm, right? The way that our our adrenal pattern is is designed to operate. We're supposed to have the highest level of cortisol about two hours after we wake up every morning, and then it steadily decreases as we go through the day. But I think when we've trained our body to adapt to the lifestyle we want, then we often find ourselves getting that second wind. I think is what people call it. You know where. Maybe 8 pm they're like we're in a go, let's go out.
Speaker 2:It could also be because so many people get that crash in the afternoon. Yeah, your cortisol shouldn't be crashing yet, it shouldn't be tanking yet. But what do people do? They go reach for sweets and caffeine to ride them through the rest of the afternoon. Then they get to the evening and cortisol is thinking well, okay, I guess we're going still. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1:So, with stress, we've talked about how it can be, you know, a good force, bad force but I think it's important to just acknowledge that occasional stress is normal and it can be healthy. Right, it's a way to grow, it helps us survive, like if the bear is chasing you through the woods, just for that, yeah, yeah, for sure. And exercise, again, is a good example, whether you're doing cardio or power lifting, high intensity workouts. I think a lot of that, and what we've learned through genetics especially, which has been driven home recently, a lot of what feeds you is is going to be somewhat dependent on your genetic makeup. Feeds you is is going to be somewhat dependent on your genetic makeup. And I'm I'm a high intensity power person. I will. I've run a, I ran a half marathon once and I don't care to do it again.
Speaker 2:Well and that's an interesting point there though, sharon like for for our listeners, it it can be really really helpful to one know what your cortisol level is doing and there's ways we can test that but also know what your genetic predisposition is to your fitness routine and your weight routine, and then you can combine those and we can test for those too, and it can really help you feel less defeated when you're in this, this pattern of maybe you're doing what you think are all the right things, but it's not right for you and it's actually creating a lot more stress, and then you feel like you're hitting your head against the wall and that's, you know that's discouraging, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1:Now, with with stress, with cortisol, like we get stressed. If you're going to take a test, we usually feel stressed, a little anxious, right? If somebody comes up to your car window and points a gun in your face, you're going to feel a little stressed. If you have an evaluation at work or school, that can induce stress. If you're facing a hard conversation with a loved one, that could induce stress, I think facing any situation you don't want to do can bring about stress. But there are some positive aspects to cortisol, our stress hormone that gets released in times of need. Right, it will give you the energy to fight. You've heard about women like picking up cars off their babies or, you know, doing superhuman feats. That's cortisol, or adrenaline, if you will, but it helps to increase your focus and it also increases blood flow to your muscles.
Speaker 1:And think about it If you're in a physically demanding situation that is not normal to your daily routine, that's going to help you survive. That's your survival instincts. But outside of that, it's what happens. Well, in the long run well, even in the short run you're going to have a decreased immune response. Why? Because all of your resources are going to helping you survive. Right, your blood flow is going to really be centered around, like your, your vital organs. It's. It's going to be um, it's, and it's not going to be about digesting lunch that gets put on the back burner, so digestion will suffer. You're going to have usually increased blood pressure and you're going to have a decreased sex hormone response. But that makes sense if, in parasympathetic mode or you know feed and breed, when we're thinking about having sex and procreating, when you're in sympathetic state or fight or flight or fright, procreation is not at the forefront of your mind. So you got to think about those opposites.
Speaker 2:But I think also some people. Well, we see a lot of people low libido. It's just a result of the stress we live in and people think they just need more hormone support for that. Now, sometimes hormone support can help with your stress response, but that's not always the answer if we aren't helping to resolve that constant stress response, chronic stress, while it can have all these bad effects, right, because our body is trying to keep us alive.
Speaker 1:We would link it to an old school idea of adrenal fatigue. But if you think of adrenal fatigue, it's well, your adrenals are too tired to do their job and that's not actually an accurate description, but it does make sense. But really, what it's more about is an axis it's your hypothalamus, which is your regulation center of your brain, your pituitary gland, which is the stimulation center in your brain, and your adrenals, and your adrenals produce cortisol, right. So chronic stress can make you feel tired, but it's not adrenal fatigue, it could be just prolonged high cortisol response and it keeps you in that sympathetic state. But you are going to start depleting all of your reserves, right? You're going to run till you can't run anymore and, like you said earlier, you're going to have the caffeine and the sugar. And what do those things do? Well, they alter your metabolism over time, and now we're stressed and we have a weight problem.
Speaker 2:Bonus yeah. And then that creates more stress, because you don't like where your weight is going, you don't like where your energy is going, you don't like where your health is going yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure. And then, when you've got this constant dumping of cortisol into your body, your immune system can take a hit. And this is where you can. I mean, everybody knows somebody or maybe you're that person that you go and go and go and go and then you get a respiratory virus or bronchitis and it turns into pneumonia. Or when you crash and get sick, or somebody else may have been down two or three days, you're down for two weeks and you're non-functioning. And there again, it's because of the constant stress, whether it be mental, emotional, physical. We've just depleted ourselves' ability to be resilient.
Speaker 2:Well, let's talk about what happens to your gut, to your digestive health. Your gut is where your immune system is primarily at. 70% of our immune system is in our gut, and when you have a constant dumping of high cortisol into your gut, it increases your gut permeability, it increases our chances of leaky gut and then it slows down motility and so that can alter your gut microbiome the good bugs and the bad bugs, the balance of them, and it ultimately declines in your immune system. You're not digesting your food, you're not absorbing your nutrients. How's your immune system going to get any building blocks for it? And it's busy fighting all these foreign invaders in your bloodstream now and that's how you start absorbing more toxins.
Speaker 2:So it's just this vicious cycle of stress creating the problem. But once again, there's a lot you can do to help that, because if you're dealing with digestive issues or your gut is a problem and you're eating junk food and fast food, you're making that problem worse, versus having the knowledge and the discipline to say you know what I deserve better than this. I'm going to do better for myself and I'm going to eat nourishing foods that help my body cope with stress. We crave sugar and fat and just junk food when we're in these positions, because it is a survival mode. It wouldn't be such a survival mode if we had once again more nourishing foods in our body in the first place.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And I think to the end of foods, if we look at putting ourselves in a situation where we are chronically stressed, meaning it's longer than a couple of days, right, it's longer than a week, right, it's your whole life.
Speaker 1:What does that do to us mentally? Well, mentally, we're prioritizing the stress, so we're not going to be prioritizing health, sleep, healthy food. And this is where you start to see this snowball effect. Oh, I have this deadline. At work or school, I don't have time to cook a meal, so I'm going to drive through wherever. Or I'm going to pick something up, and it's not going to be something that would have been as good for you, as nourishing as what you would have eaten at home, or you just take a break. You know, I'll just take a break this week. I'm going to let myself off the hook.
Speaker 2:We have a way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but what we're doing is really punishing ourselves. It's like, oh yeah, let me kick you while you're down. But I think, too, this is where people start to say so what's the best diet for stress? And I think this is where we get into. Well, it depends on who you are, because because, like Elena and I, we've been through similar situations we have interpreted stress similarly. If we ate the same way, um, she would die on my diet, I would die on her diet. No, I wouldn't die. But. But this is where knowing needs Mm-hmm, knowing your body type, knowing what your I think it comes back to definitely ancestral diets and genetics and what your body's adapted to really helps to play a role in forming a healing diet. Whether you're somebody who needs to be more plant-based or more paleo or meat, I think that this is where having professional help is super important.
Speaker 2:Right, because a lot of the time well, I shouldn't say a lot of the time, but there's oftentimes, I see, people who are skipping meals because they're stressed, and that, for them, is so much worse. They lose their appetite because they're stressed and they're the ones who need to eat three meals a day. Then other people eat because they're stressed, and that's when we have the conversation of hey, maybe a little intermittent fasting would be a good idea, but planning your meals so you have a plan to be successful, so you don't find yourself in that that rut of quick, convenient food.
Speaker 2:Like you about just going through the drive-thru.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, just doing what's easy, or using food as emotional comfort.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I think we all do that to some extent, for sure, it's just being aware of it.
Speaker 1:Let's eat, I'm happy. Let's eat. Let's celebrate, I'm bored, let's eat. Food can be a love language, for sure, and we're definitely guilty of that. And I mean, I will say I'm the first person to go, I'm just so distracted or I'm so busy, I just can't eat. But then, three hours later, I'm like ready to gnaw my arm off and then I'm walking around the office going who has food?
Speaker 2:It's not ideal, you know, and food is just one aspect of what we use to cope with stress, and it can be good and bad. There's good things we can choose for food, kind of like we talked about it. You know, for some people it's eating the right foods, but there's certain nutrients and herbs that can help, you know, can help balance that cortisol, whether it's balancing it in the morning or the evening, bringing it up, bringing it down. And it's not just going to get an adaptogenic herbal blend at the health food store because it is not one size fits all. We know what your needs are, because, just like a diet isn't one size fits all and going to be the same for everyone, the supplementation isn't either.
Speaker 1:I think yeah, and I think this is a good point to talk about. Like, how do we deal with altered cortisol patterns? What we do is we do we prefer urinary testing either Dutch Complete or Humap, and it's two companies with essentially the same tests yielding the same information. But what we want to see is not just a moment in time, like if you go to a blood lab, they're going to draw blood and measure the cortisol in your serum and it gives you a point in time Well, if that's your good point in time, it doesn't tell you really what's happening the other 23 hours of the day, so we don't know what your pattern is, whereas with the urinary test, they look at what is the metabolized cortisol, so we can see are you making enough and is your body burning it all up, or are you not clearing it, so we can see how to help.
Speaker 1:Or are you low in the morning when you should be high? And this is where having professionals can help, because we'll look at that rhythm and say, okay, when you wake up, we got to get your cortisol up. So here's what we're going to do. It's not just take this.
Speaker 2:It's not always supplements either, right.
Speaker 1:Oh for sure. I don't think it's ever been more true than with adrenal stress, because there's no magic pill, it's not the same for everybody and it's sometimes it's retraining that HPA axis, it's tricking your brain into going, oh, everything's fine. Look all of this. You know these adaptogenic herbs or these nutrients, it's all here. So sometimes it's pushing, nudging your cortisol up at one point of the day while urging it to calm down at another part of the day, but all to give you the best function throughout the day.
Speaker 2:And, once again, not always supplements, because sometimes there's lifestyle adjustments. Maybe we need to be encouraging movement and exercise at certain parts of the day, or rest, repair, taking a moment to breathe. You know there's lifestyle aspects that come into it as well. And screens Can we go back to screens for a second Screen time? Technology, preach, sister. I mean that is one of the biggest disruptors to every natural function in our body and we're glued to them. I mean, I get it. We're all on a computer right now as we do this. That's the irony of it. There's a time and a place for it. But I think, even for me, I know better and I have to tell myself in the evening when I'm tired and it's been a stressful day I just want to sit on my phone or I just want to watch something, but I know my sleep is going to be impaired and my circadian rhythm is going to be interrupted because I let technology steal too much of my time.
Speaker 1:Right, and there are tweaks, there are ways to make it better, like the amber glasses, the blue light blocking glasses, but I think it's also important to point out that you know there's one element or shade that you want to use during the day, like the yellow tinted glasses. They're really good for blocking blue light. Now, some blue light is good. Blue light stimulates your brain, which is really why it's bad at bedtime, but in the morning that's what we get from the sun and that's good. However, as we go through the day, like after dinner around sunset, you would want to move to a more amber or orangey tint of glasses, and there's even nighttime glasses that are red, and one of our favorite companies is Viva Ray. They don't support us, they're not sponsoring anything, but they do make a really good product.
Speaker 1:And I've I've said before I have the evening glasses, mainly because I don't stay up late enough for it to be considered night. But I find that I have to be real careful because if I study on my computer for longer than half an hour with those orange glasses on, I will fall asleep. That is how much it affects me, but I think that it's important for people who maybe have a hard time. Shutting it down at night, that okay if you can't escape working late. If you can't get off your computer, at least put on the right kind of glasses so that your brain starts to make those transitions night that okay if you can't escape working late if you can't get off your computer, at least put on the right kind of glasses so that your brain starts to make those transitions.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, and that's just one strategy you can use that, I think, does apply to most of us on some level, because so many of us are on a screen and it's not the ideal.
Speaker 1:No, tell us what the ideal is.
Speaker 2:I mean, well, the ideal is, let's get rid of the computers, but then we wouldn't be able to do things like this and reach so many of you. Don't get drastic, no, no. But what we can do, though, is just having other practical strategies in our life that will help us deal with the stress, because we can't get rid of traffic and screens and certain family stressors and traumas and dramas. You know, there's things like that, but there's prayer and meditation and just relaxing practices, if you like to read or journal or draw, walking, like we said, but pick your style of walking Breathing exercises Breathing is a big area that people forget about.
Speaker 2:We get stressed, we tense up and hold our breath versus remembering to just calm down into the normal breathing pattern.
Speaker 2:We'll get more oxygen and therefore have more energy, but also limiting caffeine I know that's where a lot of us want to go when we're tired and stressed, but for everyone, that's not going to be the right solution, because that can create more stress hormones. So then you think well, what am I supposed to do? But that goes back to breathing, eating the right foods, and I love red light therapy not just the glasses, but using red light therapy in the evenings, like when I think, oh, I want to be on my phone because I'm tired and stressed, no, go, sit in front of my red light, I'll turn on some meditation music. Sometimes I read a book. It's kind of hard to see, but, you know, just sit there and relax in front of that red light. It winds you down, it really does. And you can get different variations of that online. You know, based on your budget level, you can get tiny little bulbs just to get the ambiance going, or just get the glasses so everything looks red and the red light for me.
Speaker 1:I have it in my home gym and I have it posted. It's like bolted to the wall and I have my vibration platform below it. And I lived with my son-in-law, which is hysterical but what I do is, while he's doing his set, I get on the vibration plate and we keep the red light on through our whole workout because we both found that we sweat a lot more. So, yeah, it doesn't increase the heat in the room necessarily, but, man, the sweat does pour and it feels good and standing on the vibration platform in close proximity, that's good for your skin.
Speaker 1:It's good for your skin, it's good to feel wounds. Yeah, ladies, anti-aging, that's important too. But besides the red light, I think too setting yourself up for good sleep hygiene and turning off overhead lights, that's important, and just keeping the warm lamps on fewer lights is better in the evening. And all of that's giving your brain signals that, hey, it's time to shut down.
Speaker 2:And that's where, with the lamps, it's a good idea to have the amber, warm light bulbs versus the white light, because that's giving you that blue light effect of even the screen is just it's bright and stimulating. Because that's giving you that blue light effect of even the screen is just it's bright and stimulating and that's not going to help you wind down even if you're just using your lamps.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure. So let's um, let's move into, like, red flag moments. But what, what do you hear? Cause I feel like you probably intercept. You know more questions than I do Just because of my schedule Elena's here more than I am but red flags that cause you to tell somebody you know we need to test your cortisol. You need professional help dealing with this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I find the biggest ones are people who are expressing depression or anxiety, because you used to just hear that sometime. I feel like I hear that all the time now and sometimes people have a hard time putting it to words. So you know that's where we have a conversation. Just, you know, tell me how you're feeling. How are you reacting to X, Y and Z and then an increase in digestive issues? I know we've always seen a lot of that because this is a modern day country where everyone's busy and eating bad food, as we've kind of talked about Right.
Speaker 2:But I think the red flags are when people are spinning all their wheels and sometimes their time, money and energy. You know they're just trying so hard and they're desperate. It's like, ok, let's move away from desperation or fear or worry and even anxiety. You can't always just turn it off, but you know I hear people start expressing that it's like OK, let's give you some support so you have the stamina to make the right choices. That's what I see more than anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's really good, and one of my questions to people who mention stress is how long have you been dealing with this? Because if what you're doing isn't working, it's time to try something different, and sometimes we just need an outside perspective. That's why, you know, that's why doctors have doctors, that's why therapists go to therapy. You know we work on each other, not on ourselves, because we need somebody else to take care of us.
Speaker 2:And to point out things that we just become immune to. I mean, like you said, we do this for each other. You and I just kind of question hey, do you really think that's helping you? Maybe you should try this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's those Holy Spirit moments where we get to be the Holy Spirit for each other. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very good. I think a misconception people have, though when we're working on a chronic problem, be it skin, cardiovascular digestion, people think they can get one supplement and be fixed.
Speaker 1:They think a digestive enzyme.
Speaker 2:Okay, you said that'll help my digestion. My gut will be great. Or I'm drinking bone broth, my gut's going to heal, skin's going to heal, everything's going to be great. It takes time, you know. You didn't get to where you are in a day or a week or a month and we have to have patience and give ourselves the space and the tools. But just remember, it takes time. With adrenals it really does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think part of the problem with adrenals. I just thought of this and I've had this happen several times through the years. There's a big event that happens nationally and women will get together and they do this big multi-day event and it's a lot of walking and I've had several women come and say I don't. I did that, it was fun, but I didn't sleep. We weren't really eating well, I got dehydrated and a week later they just crashed and burned. But it's a crash and burn of a whole new level of low. And I think it's not just stuff like that, because I think part of that could be chalked up to well, you weren't trained right, you didn't prepare, your body was not prepared for that. But I think that can happen, even with divorce and death and things where I know we've had a few traumatic family deaths, and your adrenaline gets you through it and then sometimes you have to keep going because whatever the situation demands, but then at some point it's like I can't move, your body will get you through. Right. You outrun that bear in the woods and now your body's saying now sit down, it is time for a timeout. We will tell you when you can get up again. But that can go awry and I think you know that can happen to the best of situations. It just that's part of life. But knowing that, oh, wow, yeah, this is, this is big, my body's not functioning, Um, whether it's from a death or or you know, an event whatever, there's not usually going to be like you're talking about the one supplement like, oh sure, Just take ashwagandha, You'll feel great. That's not good. And what if you take it at the wrong time of day? Oh my gosh, yeah, you know. Or what if it's the wrong thing for you at that time, If it's calming you down when what you actually need is some stimulation? You know, using the wrong product is just as bad as trying to just use one thing, Right, Right. So that can be a problem. But so there you know, again having somebody else look at you.
Speaker 1:But I think the things that people can do for themselves, you know, should be daily practice. So breathing, you know, for me, stand on my vibration platform, and I'm doing that because I don't want osteoporosis, because it feels good after I've power lifted and it happens to be right in front of my red light. So I do that. But that's all good for my nervous system too, so I do that. But that's all good for my nervous system too. But I make myself do some deep breathing, and lifting makes me breathe. But I think becoming aware sometimes people don't realize they hold their breath and so if you ask people, do you sigh a lot? Invariably nine out of 10 people will go yeah.
Speaker 2:What were they go?
Speaker 1:No, no, oh wait, maybe I do. People still work remote. Every time you get on a phone call, stand up. Take the phone call standing up, not because you need to get your heart rate up, but because you need to give your body an outlet because as we sit and do nothing, we store stress.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you don't feel like you need as much oxygen. You move around. Your body will force you to get that oxygen.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Or if you're just a go, go, go, go, go and there's no slow part of your life, maybe, maybe you're that person who needs the stroll, Maybe you need to quit walking a 13 minute mile and you need to walk a 20 minute mile. You know, walk with a toddler, they will slow you down.
Speaker 2:And amuse you. That's good for the soul and amuse you.
Speaker 1:Laughter is good for everything, for sure, but I think it's important to just take time to slow down. We live at such a busy, fast pace. We can cram so many things into one day.
Speaker 2:And it's to our own detriment.
Speaker 1:It really is.
Speaker 2:What we all have to do, because so many of us you know you feel like you don't have time, you don't have enough time and you don't feel like you have the time to slow down, but you never get the time back. So, what you do with the time and how you choose to say hey, I am going to take that stroll because it's going to relax my nervous system and make me more productive later, or I'm going to stop and do some deep breathing.
Speaker 2:I am going to stop and just hey, find a rose and go smell it. Stop and smell the roses. When you slow down to make that time, you create more time in your day. I mean not literally, but how you use it is a lot more effective and efficient. And then you feel better about your time and you create more time in your day. I mean not literally, but how you use it is a lot more effective and efficient.
Speaker 2:And then you feel better about your time and you won't be as stressed later on in the day or the next day. It's important to take that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So to address adrenal stress, you do have to look at diet. If you're eating the standard American diet, I do not feel like you need a professional to tell you you need to change your diet, because the standard American diet does not create health period, it just doesn't. So dietary changes that would involve including more anti-inflammatory foods and anti-inflammatory foods generally. I mean it could mean different things for different people, but it's going to be whole food. I think we can start with that right. It's not going to be something processed.
Speaker 2:It is going to be a variety of colors. Eat the rainbow. I don't mean Fruit Loops.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what Fruits and veggies, yeah, and Andrew should really usually eat more vegetables than fruits, because with adrenal stress, blood sugar often gets out of control and that's something we haven't really touched on. But people who get stressed and you get these big cortisol releases, you often see that metabolically, and when I say metabolically, it's your energy creation and energy burning. So thyroid, adrenal, pancreas, anything creating hormones is going to suffer. So not eating sugar would be really important. Maybe you're a person who needs a lot more animal protein and maybe you're a person who does really well with keto, but there's still good keto and bad keto right, or dirty and clean right. But generally you need more whole foods. And if you don't know what your diet is, I just encourage people don't intersperse healthy food in your junk.
Speaker 1:Devote three days. That's not how it works Really. Devote some time to exploring a different diet, because sometimes you just have to try it to know hey, hey, how do I feel? I think it's a good question to say too how do I feel after I eat meat. Try a meal of just meat and see how you feel. How long did you stay full? Did you get tired after you ate? Did your liver hurt? Did you have reflux? Were you constipated? Try a meal of vegetables. How did you feel? Were you full? Were you gassy? Did you get constipated? Did you have undigested food in your stool? There's a lot of things you can do but use your body as a lab, but definitely diet and staying more anti-inflammatory. And then active relaxation, like we talked about. Where you're, you know, walking, breathing exercises, just giving yourself distractions throughout the day in a way that helps you recenter yourself.
Speaker 2:Peaceful distractions and exercise, not, you know, add type things.
Speaker 1:For sure the fidget, you know, the little fidget toys, those I mean. I just I feel like I want to take every adult that I see with a fidget thing and say let's, let's talk about lifestyle, let's talk about what you're eating, because that is your nervous systems on fire right.
Speaker 2:You're so ramped up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, there's so much better things we can do. And then sleep adequate sleep, and you know what, elena? One thing we didn't talk about this just came to my mind is my husband used to try to tell me this when we were first married we got married when we were toddlers, so we've been together our entire lives. I'm just kidding, but he used to say I only need five or six hours of sleep, I'm fine. If I get too much sleep, I'm tired, and I was like there is no way. That is right, but our bodies adapt and it still doesn't make five, six hours Good.
Speaker 2:But what do we need? What do you say? Well, if you're going to get the five hours of sleep, you better make sure you're getting that sleep before midnight, but don't you think.
Speaker 1:I mean I'd say seven to eight hours, no less than seven.
Speaker 2:For most people, yeah, and I think people who think they do okay on five hours just got used to something that they're calling normal versus You're more prone to accidents.
Speaker 1:And disease.
Speaker 2:So you might think you're okay, but, yes, more prone to having a car accident or having all these health issues that you just chalk up to age or I don't know, genetics. Okay, well, what if you took care of this whole little template, you got here a little bit better and gave it rest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, rest is so important. I always tell people I have land and my dream is to build a retreat center, and the first retreat that I'm going to host is going to be a sleep retreat, and I want it to be two weeks and I want it to be. People who have sleep issues um, of varying types. The beautiful thing about this land is you don't even get cell phone reception.
Speaker 1:It is in a it is in a it's not in a hole, but it's in a digital hole, and I just think that reprogramming our bodies to get up with the sun, to go down with the sun and to be grounded, touching the ground, without the stimulation of EMFs around us, it can do so much. I think we're so out of touch with our bodies and with the land, but sleep's big. And then the other thing. So, yeah, active relaxation, exercise, food, but supplements. And I think the supplements that I know I get asked the most about B vitamins, for sure, but ashwagandha, rhodiola and then other things, ginseng, and so this is a good time to kind of go into ashwagandha and rhodiola. They're considered adaptogenic herbs. Right, they help you adapt, but ashwagandha is very effective at promoting relaxation or calming stress and for anxious people, but it's not going to make you sleepy. Now, rhodiola is better known for increasing your energy levels, lifting your mood, so people who may be a little more depressed, and it makes you a little sharper mentally. So I think you know if, if you're trying to pick yourself up a little bit, you know like I need to be sharper, my memories going or I just feel, you know, like a bump on a log feel like a bump on a log, the rhodiola may be the one for you, whereas if you are wired and tired and just anxious, the ashwagandha is typically going to be better.
Speaker 1:But those are just two. They are two that get a lot of attention. So I just wanted to put that out there. But then we have other things. We have like phosphatidylserine or phosphatidylcholine, we have licorice root and ginseng and vitamin C and B complexes. There are all of these nutrients out there.
Speaker 1:Homeopathic remedies we use homeopathics, yeah, even flower remedies. Look up Bach flower remedies for people who get stuck in an emotional rut or they get fixated in a certain way. Those can be very helpful just for adjusting, just for giving your body different information to start working a little differently. But it's not any one of those things or all of them Sometimes, or all of them, but I think that you know, again, to working with you know, like K6 Wellness Center, it's getting somebody to help you identify.
Speaker 1:Hey, it appears you know that your, your stress is caused from blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it seems that XYZ makes it even worse. However, you know, abc tends to give you pleasure, stress release and I think sometimes having somebody objective from the outside, speak into your situation, because I think we overanalyze ourselves and we excuse the things we don't want to change and then sometimes we just we just give up, yeah, yeah and, and I think you know I did that with my own health early on when I didn't know what I was dealing with. I was in my 20s and I had young children and I just thought I'm a mother and this is just what it's like and I'm tired, and that shouldn't have been.
Speaker 2:No, no. So really, the moral of the story is get professional help, you know, have someone who knows what to use and when to use it. Come in and help you through that. Otherwise you could keep yourself in a rut a lot longer than you need to be.
Speaker 1:So you're our constant cheerleader, elena, you tell me. So, ending it up here, what advice would you give to someone who's feeling totally overwhelmed by stress? They're struggling to maintain their sanity, their job, their family, their health, their wellbeing? What do you say?
Speaker 2:Something's got to give. Is it going to be something you choose or something life chooses for you? Yeah, it's every time. You can keep trying to juggle everything, but you're not going to be able to keep it up.
Speaker 2:And I don't say that in a defeatist kind of way, but it's just. The reality is you're not going to be able to keep it up. But look at what you can control. You can control what you are putting into your body, what you are allowing to have an impact on your body and your environment. And when it goes beyond what you can control, get the help through professionals, be it for nutrition or counseling, or even someone to help you get structure in your life. If you need help figuring out hey, how do I plan meals just so I can have a plan to eat successfully and healthfully? You know we we like to be that cheerleader for you, not for every aspect of it, but you know, as far as nutrition and food goes, and just the right supplementation for the right time, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think for yeah, for those people out there who are just wired and tired. Right, you just keep burning the candle at both ends. Take the time to slow down now, while you can choose to do it, choose what areas you're going to do that in, so it can help you to be more productive and it can give you more time. You know you want to live your life to the fullest.
Speaker 2:And I just want to mention real quick one of the easiest things you can do when you're stressed. What's that saying? I'm not stressed, I'm blessed.
Speaker 1:Mine is I'm fine. I'm fine, everything's fine.
Speaker 2:Finding things to be thankful for in your life will help you step back, slow down and reevaluate everything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and get professional help. I think we cannot say that enough. Yeah, having somebody else who knows what to use and when to use it, who has done this forever, has seen it times hundreds compared to what you have, they can make a huge difference in your recovery. So, yeah, I think this is all great, it's so helpful, and so I think this is a great place to kind of wrap it up on stress and adrenals and our health. But I do want to point out our virtual program is geared toward brain fog and fatigue, which always has an adrenal component, and so if you're looking even if you don't live in the Dallas area, if you're looking for help with this, we do this virtually and we have a great program.
Speaker 1:Um, lots of success with working with stress and healing your hormones and helping with adrenal stress. So I just encourage you to look us up at k6wellnesscom. But we hope that everybody found this information valuable. We'd love to hear from you. If you watch this episode on YouTube, please like and subscribe to our channel and you can also check us out on Rumble Facebook and Instagram, and if you'd like more information about how to manage your stress levels, and you can also check us out on Rumble, Facebook and Instagram, and if you'd like more information about how to manage your stress levels and live your best life, visit k6wellnesscom to schedule an appointment. Until next time, take care of yourself, because your health is worth fighting for.